The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the need for force protection technologies that are suited for employment in austere combat environments. The guard tower systems that are currently employed by the U.S. Army and other armed forces in combat theaters, however, fail to meet several requirements. These current guard towers tend to be either logistically intensive, require excessive manpower and machinery for assembly, or provide inadequate ballistic protection.
There is a need for a lightweight guard tower or fighting position having a weight significantly less than 10,000 pounds such that it can be easily deployed by helicopter. There is a need for a guard tower or fighting position that requires no tools or equipment to assemble it. There is a need for such assembly without tools or equipment to take place very quickly and with no special training. There is a need for such a guard tower or fighting position to provide significant ballistic protection to the occupant. There is a need for such a guard tower or fighting position to be easily disassembled and redeployed to a different location.